From 1788 to 1900, it was once a British colony. 190 1 year, the colonial rule ended and became an independent federal country. The word Australia means "Southern Continent". When Europeans discovered this continent at the beginning of the17th century, they mistakenly thought it was a land that went straight to the South Pole, so they named it "Australia", which was changed from the Latin terraaustralis.
Australia is a highly developed capitalist country. As the most economically developed country in the southern hemisphere, the world's largest economy 12, the fourth largest exporter of agricultural products, and also the largest exporter of various minerals in the world, it is called "the country by car". At the same time, Australia is also the country with the largest number of sheep and the largest export volume of wool in the world, also known as "the country riding on the back of sheep". Australia's population is highly urbanized, and nearly half of its citizens live in Sydney and Melbourne. Many cities in this country are rated as one of the most livable places in the world. It is also a sports power, hosting many global sports events all the year round. Now, Australia actively participates in international affairs and is a member of the United Nations, the G20, the Commonwealth, the Pacific Security Treaty, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Pacific Islands Forum.
The latest news
China, South Korea and China-Australia FTA 65438+ came into effect on February 20th, 2015-12-0916: 04.
On the afternoon of the 9th, Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen and South Korean Ambassador to China Kim Jang-soo exchanged diplomatic notes in the Ministry of Commerce. China and South Korea confirmed that the Free Trade Agreement between the Governments of People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of Korea would take effect on February 20th, 20 15, with the first tax reduction, and take effect on October 20th, 20 1615. ... details
Content comes from
Chinese name
Commonwealth of Australia
English name
Commonwealth of Australia
abbreviate
Australia, Australia
Belong to the mainland
Oceania
capital
Canberra
Major city
Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane, Darwin, Hobart, Adelaide and so on.
National Day
65438+1October 26
national anthem
Promoting the Australian Expo
country code
Australia
official language
English
money
AUD
time zone
UTC+8 to UTC+ 10 (daylight saving time: UTC+8 to UTC+ 1 1)
political system
Constitutional monarchy of parliament
national leader
Governor: peter cosgrove, Prime Minister: malcolm turnbull
Population size
24 million (estimated at 20 13)
population density
2.9 1 person/km2
Major ethnic groups
White, Australian aborigines [1]?
Major religions
Church of England, Catholicism
contact area
76 17930 km2 (the sixth in the world)
water rate
0.897%
Gross domestic product
1.56 1 trillion dollars (20 13, international exchange rate) [2]?
per capita GDP (gross domestic product)
67488 USD (20 13, international exchange rate) [2]?
International telephone code
+6 1
International domain abbreviation
. Arbitrary Unit
Highway traffic
Drive on the left
State structure form
federal system
The largest city
Sydney
central bank
Federal Reserve Bank of Australia
Gini coefficient
0.305
Human development index
0.933 (the second highest in the world, 20 14)
Time of establishing diplomatic relations
1972 65438+February 2 1
The first discoverer
William Jane
The development of history
Australia
Australia
The word "Asia" originally means "southern continent" and comes from the Latin terraaustralis. As early as more than 40,000 years ago, the aborigines lived and multiplied in this land of Australia, and the total number of aborigines in Australia was 413,000 (data of 5438+0 census in 2006).
1606, the ship of Spanish navigator LuisVaezdeTorres sailed through the strait between Australia and New Guinea (Irian Island); In the same year, Duyfken of the Dutchman William Jane set foot in Australia, which was the first recorded foreigner to actually land in Australia, and named this place "New Holland". 1770, the British navigator CaptainJamesCook discovered the east coast of Australia, named it "New South Wales" and declared that this land belonged to Britain.
The British first used Australia as a place to exile prisoners. 1788 65438+1October 18 A fleet of six ships led by captain Philip *** 1530 arrived in Bottani Bay, Australia, including 736 prisoners. Eight days later,178865438+1October 26th, they formally established the first British colony in Porter Jackson, Australia, which later became the largest city with a growing population in Australia. This name is in memory of the then British Home Secretary Sydney. Every year after 65438+1October 26th, it becomes Australia Day.
1790, the first batch of British freemen moved to Australia, with Sydney as the center and gradually developed inland. By 1803, the colonial area had expanded to today's Tasmania. The earliest inhabitants of Australia were aborigines.
1770, the British navigator james cook arrived at the east coast of Australia and announced that Britain occupied this land.
1788 65438+1On October 26th, the first batch of prisoners exiled to Australia by Britain arrived in Sydney Bay, and Britain began to establish colonies in Australia, which was later designated as Australia National Day.
1900, residents of all six colonies held a referendum of one person, one vote to decide whether to unify the six colonies into a federal country. The result of the vote is that the six places should be unified and a single Australian Federation should be established. In July, the British Parliament passed the Australian Federal Constitution and the British Dominion Ordinance.
190 1 year 1 month 1 day, all the colonies in Australia were changed to states, six colonies were unified into a federation, and the Commonwealth of Australia was established. At the same time, the first constitution was adopted.
1927, the Australian capital moved to Canberra. 193 1 year, the British Parliament passed the Westminster Act, which made Australia independent in domestic and foreign affairs and became an independent country in the Commonwealth.
193 1 year, Australia became an independent country in the Commonwealth. 1986, the British Parliament passed the Australia Relations Act, and Australia gained full legislative power and judicial final adjudication power. [3]?
In 1950s, gold mines were discovered in New South Wales and Victoria. A large number of gold prospectors from Europe, America and China flocked to China. The population of Australia has soared from 400,000 in 1850 to10,000,000. Since then, many important gold mines have been discovered one after another, and a large number of mineral deposits have been discovered. These discoveries made Australia rich and developed rapidly.
Geographic environment editor
location
Australia is located between the South Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean, and consists of islands and overseas territories such as Australia and Tasmania. It borders the Coral Sea and tasman sea in the Pacific Ocean in the east, and the Indian Ocean and its marginal seas in the west, north and south. It is the only country in the world that monopolizes a continent.
zone
Australia's terrain is very unique.
Map of Australia-latest edition
Color. Eastern mountainous area, central plain and western plateau. The highest mountain in China, Kosi Asco, is 2228 meters above sea level. Near the sea, it is a long and narrow beach with a gentle slope, which slopes gently to the west and gradually becomes a plain. The coastal areas are full of wide beaches and lush vegetation, and the topography here is varied: in the west of Sydney, there are cliffs of the Blue Mountains, in the north of Brisbane, there are tall and beautiful eroded volcanic neck in the Glasgow Mountains, and on the south coast of Adelaide, there is a flat Yuan Ye.
Most of Australia's land, about 70% belongs to arid or semi-arid zone, and most of the central part is not suitable for living. Australia has 1 1 great desert, which accounts for about 20% of the whole continental area. Due to the lack of rainfall, the continent over 1\3 is covered by desert. Australia is the flattest and driest continent in the world. The central depression and the western plateau are dry deserts. Lake Eyre in the middle is the lowest point in Australia, with an elevation of16m. Only 260,000 square kilometers of land can be used for animal husbandry and planting. Coastal areas, especially the southeast coastal areas, are suitable for living and farming. Here the mountains are rolling, the water is abundant and the land is fertile. Except the south coast, the whole coastal area forms a "green belt" around the mainland, and it is this green belt that feeds this country.
climate
Australia's climate
Australia is located in the southern hemisphere. Although the time difference with China (including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) is only 2-3 hours, the seasons are completely opposite. 65438+February-February is summer, March-May is autumn, June-August is winter, and September-165438+10 is spring. The Australian continent was formed 200 million years ago and has unique geography and characteristics. Australia spans two climatic zones, with a tropical climate in the north. Every year165438+10-April is the rainy season, and165438+10-February is the dry season. Because it is close to the equator, 65438+10-February is the typhoon period. Southern Australia has a mild climate and four distinct seasons. The interior of Australia is a barren desert with drought and little rain, high temperature and large temperature difference; On the contrary, in the coastal areas, the rainfall is abundant and the climate is humid, which is obviously maritime.
hydrology
Murray river and Darling River are the two longest rivers in Australia. These two water systems constitute the Murray Darling Basin, with an area of over 1 10,000 square kilometers, which is equivalent to 14% of the total area of the mainland. Murray River, the longest river, is 3490 miles long. Aier Lake is a huge salt lake near the center of the mainland, with an area of over 9000 km ㎡, but it has been dry for a long time.
Australia is the driest continent in the world, and the drinking water is mainly natural precipitation, relying on dams to store water and supply water. The government forbids the use of groundwater, because once it is exploited, it is difficult to recover it. From 2006 to 2009, the impact of El Ni? o expanded, resulting in a significant decrease in rainfall. Major cities in Australia are generally short of water, and a number of laws restricting water use have been promulgated one after another to save water to tide over the drought.
Natural resources editing
mineral
Great Barrier Reef
Australia is rich in mineral resources, including oil and natural gas, with at least 70 kinds of mineral resources. Among them, bauxite reserves rank first in the world, accounting for 35% of the world's total reserves. Australia is the world's largest producer of bauxite, alumina, diamonds, lead and tantalum, and its output of gold, iron ore, coal, lithium, manganese ore, nickel, silver, uranium and zinc also ranks among the top in the world. At the same time, Australia is the largest exporter of bituminous coal, bauxite, lead, diamonds, zinc and concentrates, the second largest exporter of alumina, iron ore and uranium, and the third largest exporter of aluminum and gold. The proven mineral reserves with economic exploitation value are about 365.438 billion tons of bauxite, 65.438 billion tons of iron ore, 565.438 billion tons of bituminous coal, 465.438 billion tons of lignite, 65.438 billion tons of lead and 9 million tons of nickel. Australia has 240 billion liters of crude oil, 6543.8+0.36 billion cubic meters of natural gas and 6543.8+0.74 billion liters of liquefied petroleum gas. The forest coverage rate accounts for 20% of the country, the natural forest area is about 65.438+0.55 billion hectares (2/3 is eucalyptus), and the timber forest area is 65.438+0.22 billion hectares. Known as "the country sitting on the mine car"
biology
Australia is known as the "World Museum of Living Fossils". According to statistics, there are 1.2 million species of plants in Australia, and 9,000 species are not found in other countries. There are 650 species of birds here, 450 of which are endemic to Australia. Most marsupials in the world are distributed in Australia except South America. Because of the stable environment, Australia is unique to the ancient biological species preserved during the evolution of the earth. Although they seem primitive, they have become living fossils for human beings to study the evolution history of the earth.
European monetary union
Emu is one of the animals that appear on the national emblem of Australia. It is a big bird with degraded flight function. It is the largest bird in Australia. Emu is one of the largest land birds in the world and one of the oldest birds in the world. It is the only remaining species in Carnivora Carnivora.
Koala (koala)
Also known as koala or koala, one of Australia's endemic animals, it is not only Australia's national treasure, but also a precious primitive arboreal animal endemic to Australia, belonging to the family Koalas of Mammalia, distributed in eucalyptus forest areas in southeastern Australia. There are koala reserves in Melbourne, and there are koala reserves one kilometer away from Brisbane. Koalas can only be kept in the koala reserve in Brisbane. Although there are many eucalyptus trees in Blue Mountain, you can't see them clearly with your eyes. It is recommended to bring a telescope, so that you may see koalas. Actually, it's good that you can meet Cora. It is a lovely thing for koalas to hold trees like this. Remember: don't disturb them!
platypus
The platypus, a single-hole mammal in Australia, is an animal that appears on the Australian 20 cent coin. They are distributed between Cape York in eastern Australia and South Australia, and also inhabit Tasmania.
Witchcraft food
This white high-protein snack is actually a moth larva. It is an important insect dish in the desert area of Australia and was once the staple food of local aborigines.
Kangaroo (kangaroo)
Native to the Australian mainland and parts of Papua New Guinea. Some of them are unique to Australia. All Australian kangaroos live in the wild except those in zoos and wildlife parks. Different kinds of kangaroos live in different natural environments in Australia, from rainforests and desert plains with cool climate to tropical regions. All kangaroos, no matter how big they are, have one thing in common: the hind legs with long feet are strong and powerful. Kangaroos jump instead of running. They can jump up to 4 meters and as far as 13 meters, which can be said to be the tallest and farthest mammals.
hare
There were no rabbits in Australia. 1788, with the first British fleet to settle in Australia, dozens of rabbits were transported to Australia, initially introduced as edible meat. Later, some wealthy families put rabbits in nature as hunting, and let them escape to the grassland to breed quickly. 1950, the number of rabbits in Australia was estimated to reach 600 million, which destroyed vegetation and caused soil erosion, and grassland and animal husbandry faced long-term damage. Australia uses various methods to reduce the number of rabbits. 199 1 year, the number of rabbits in Australia has dropped to about 300 million.